Office Depot and HP Offer Free PC Recycling

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• June-July 2004 Issue
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Have an old computer and don't know what to do with it? While there are a number of non-profit groups in the U.S. that accept computers as deductible donations, many professional users feel uncomfortable letting go of a piece of equipment that may still contain valuable client financial information. And short of physical destruction of the hard drive, there are few ways to be certain of the erasure of this information.

Enter Office Depot (www.officedepot.com) and HP (www.hp.com). The two companies recently announced a free electronics recycling program that allows customers to drop off computers or unwanted electronic devices at any of Office Depot's more than 850 retail locations in the U.S. Through September 6, consumers can drop off computing and entertainment products from any manufacturer, including desktops, notebooks, keyboards, mice, printers, scanners, handhelds, digital cameras, fax machines, desktop copiers, flat panel displays, monitors, TVs (27' or smaller), TV/VCR combos and cell phones.

The equipment is then sent to an HP processing center for destruction and recycling, according to Lee Ray Massey, Senior VP for HP's Imaging and Printing Group. 'The recycling process includes specially designed shredders to grind equipment into pieces the size of a quarter,' he said. 'From there, a series of separators and magnets pull out the component metals and plastics for recycling.' Needless to say, all data is rendered completely irretrievable during this process.

Recycling programs such as the venture by HP and Office Depot also help users dispose of electronic products in a manner that is more friendly to the environment. Just throwing them in the dump isn't a good idea, according to the EPA, because the glass screens in computer monitors and televisions can contain large amounts of lead, and the computing systems contain many other potentially hazardous metals and materials. In addition, most communities prohibit such items from being sent to their landfills.

'We are excited about the partnership that Office Depot and HP announced today,' said Thomas P. Dunne, an administrator with the EPA's Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response. 'We look forward to this program increasing convenient opportunities for electronics recycling in the U.S. and leading to other productive partnerships among retailers, manufacturers and governments.'

Customers are limited to one item per day, but each computing system, including workstation, monitor and peripherals, is considered a single item.

For those who prefer to donate their system to a charity but still want to be certain of the destruction of their client data, users can remove the hard drive and deliver it to the Office Depot location, while leaving the remainder of the system intact for the non-profit.

Full program details, as well as in-store drop-off instructions and locations, are available at www.officedepot.com/recycle. More information on HP's recycling program is available at www.hp.com/recycle.